Our 2010 passenger count is in: the total number of passengers going through the airport was down 2%, compared to the year before. Compared to the wild swings we’ve had the past few years, that doesn’t seem half bad.

Take a look at the graph. It plots our total passenger numbers, beginning in 2000. Each bar on the graph is numbered with its ranking. 2005 was our banner year, so it’s #1. 2002 was our worst year, so it’s #11:

The great myth of the Turkey Day Travel Rush passed last week as usual. Well, almost. There was a twist this year: the new security techniques used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Before tackling the security issue, let's address the first one — the mythological Turkey Day Travel Rush.

The federal government's preliminary passenger tally for 2009 is out. It's a 14 page document that shows 2009 enplanement numbers for each of the nation's 538 commercial airports. Enplanements are the number of people getting on an airplane. Example: if an airport had 1000 enplanements in 2009, that means it boarded 1000 passengers. The federal passenger tally shows that of the nation's 150 largest airports, we were ranked number 5 in passenger growth. Here are the top five passenger growth airports:

Jason has explained the logic behind his thought that the Branson airport caused last year's upswing in Springfield passenger numbers:

"Prior to Branson Airport opening in May 2009, out of the top 150 commercial service airports in the country, Springfield consistently ranked in the top 15 as one of the highest airfare airports in the country. Those are DOT numbers not mine. Branson Airport brought low fare competition to the region and effectively lowered fares from Springfield."